HereComesTheSnow

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

<Snipped quote by HereComesTheSnow>

not that i disagree, because i don't, but you realize you collaborated on this with the world's most disgusting jer x luke shipper right

@Crimmy sheds his morals like a serpent when it pleases him

@Plank Sinatra

lauren negasi is a fictional character, plank

EDIT: as is bianca "wowie zowie i see some yaoi" nuit

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

bros arent eachothers hos

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

i think we miscalculated

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

the man just went through the five stages of grief in as many seconds, what more could you want

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

@Plank Sinatra

April Schwarz

"What, completely hopeless? Yeah, pretty much!" the girl scoffed, before returning to that same wide and inexplicably infectious grin as she threw her hands behind her head. "Nihihi! But, nah... He used to be a whole lot worse, really. Like, yeah, we bug eachother like siblings are supposed to and all, but..."

As Jericho's observant golden eyes doubtlessly noticed, her smile actually narrowed into something smaller.

Gentler.

Warmer.

Her restless arms brought her left wrist forward, and that tender, genuine smile was just barely reflected in the glass of the nondescript, yet instantly recognizable watch it now bore. Quietly, moreso than any of her verbalizations before, she chuckled and spoke.

"Well, he's a lot like you in there being a decent guy beneath the grumpus, I guess."

It turned up to the Atlesian, suddenly assaulting his carefully guarded and composed veneer of professionalism with simple contentment as a little sister. April wasn't entirely aware or concerned with the fact that he was trying to maintain that demeanor— to her, you just simply were.

And as an obvious big brother trying to hide himself beneath a suave and debonair secret agent, it was only right that she, being an open and proud little sister, be a curveball thrown at that mask, wittingly or not.

"So!" she began after a brief period, ratcheting back up to the megawatt grin and energy without as much as a single skipped beat. "How's an Atlas boy like you end up stuck over here in Vale, Jer-kun? Are you mid-transfer, or something?"

This was the crux of Dawn's grand plan. Nii-chan hadn't been much of a texter at all in his life, going 14 years without a single contact in his phone before losing the only one he'd gotten six months later in an event best described with fire and brimstone, but in terms of the decay in the amount of information they were getting from him, it had reached an unacceptable level! All he had reported in with were questions about building a scouter and 'hey guess what cruise trip', for pete's sake!

How on earth, then, could they keep track of their poor wayward sibling? The grand Schwarz rehabilitation project was bound to fail if its subject were to go unresponsive for weeks at a time!

Luckily, Dawn was a great planner and Human Relations type, and had quickly come up with a safety net.

---

See, nee-san, following him would be the juice.

The juice?

The juice. Temporary. We spend a little more time seeing him in action and grilling him about how he's doing, but what happens once family day's done with?

...We're back to square one, and our data flow is gone. You're right, that is juice!

Mm, juice. But sauce, sticky and gooey and savory and hard to move as it is...

Yeah, what's the sauce?

The sauce is letting him run off, maybe get lost, maybe not—and using that time away to build a network!

Oh my god you're right! Sis! That's completely sauce, we can just ask all of them how he's doing and what he's up to if he won't talk to us!

Exactly, and he'd never let us talk to them if he was around, so this is a great opportunity!

Right, we'd "annoy" them.

And we only "annoy" him.

But he doesn't know that!

Or doesn't acknowledge it.

Maybe doesn't realize it?

In any case, that's the sauce. Besides, these people are all really nice!

Yeah, they're super cool! One's even an alien!

Who, Vega-san? No, that's just high fashion.

Oh. I'm not big on fashion, I couldn't tell.

I don't think she is either, but she doesn't realize it.

Should we tell her?

No, that'd be mean. Let's just nudge her along.

We can do that!

Absolutely! Oh, the order's getting big, so you can start on Jer-kun while I try and resuscitate Bianca-san, sound good?

You bet! Say no more, sis!

---

So the best way to start on things with Jericho was pretty simple: figure out why an Atlesian Gold Stripe, the cream of Atlas's fertile crops, was doing here in Vale amongst Beacon students, of course! The Valic-Atlesian rivalry, while friendly after the marriage of Brennan Griese and Kawaguchi Umeko, was definitely still a thing!

Oh, wait, Umeko was Atlesian-born and Vacuan-educated, wasn't she?

Wasn't there one of them on her team from Vale?

Eh, it likely wouldn't matter in the long run.

What was more important was, right down to the grouchiness, dry wit, and weird internet humor (shut up), there was no denying it: This debonair boy totally would get along with their Nii-chan, and making him a surrogate elder brother by extension would offer a wealth of insight!

If he was gonna stick around!

If not, he'd be good for Signal tips, probably!

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

Jumpercable activity levels

Luke
Skye

Bianca

Jack

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

@Crimmy@FlitterFaux

Luke Schwarz

Oi.

Oi, oi!

---

Red Scene: Stage 1

---

Just who in the world was that passing through? Despite being an inch, maybe two taller than me, obviously Mistralian by way of charming face and accent, and clad in frugal, comfortable clothing that matched her dark hair and eyes well, this obviously couldn't be Gratia, right? Of course not, but then how did she know my name? Was someone stalking or starting rumors about me so bad that I was recognizable by sight alone?!

No, no. That couldn't be it, I'm nowhere near interesting enough for that to happen. Most people on campus barely know me, and I'm sure none of them talk about me. And for that matter, very-much-cannot-be-Gratia here might just be some pretty teenaged tourist from Zephyr.

This mystery girl, who was nothing like the Gratia I knew in her casual demeanor and graceful, content smiles, obviously had gotten my name from somewhere, though...

"G-Gratia?" I ventured, despite knowing that it obviously couldn't be her.

The girl turned her pretty face to me, gracing me with that same relaxed smile, that definitely couldn't belong to Gratia.

"Schwarz," she said lightly, as she and her presumed mother walked in. Instinctively, I stepped to the side and held the door so they could pass through. It was only gentlemanly, right? It's common courtesy to hold doors open for people trying to get in, and doubly common courtesy if they're cute or pretty girls.

---

Stage 2

---

What the hell, universe?! Why can't you throw me a bone for once in your worthless life?! This girl couldn't be Gratia?! Says who?! I happen to appreciate this weird aberration of a formerly acerbic classmate of mine! It was a breath of fresh air to see that woman actually emote, let alone loose a pleasant smile upon the world! Who had the big idea of keeping it so locked away that I didn't even recognize her?! Fine, I admit it, that's totally Gratia Mindaro, but what took so long in getting a smile, an actual smile and not some berserker sharkmouth thing, out of her, huh?!

---

Stage 3

---

I mean, hey, if it takes family, I'll vouch for letting family day go on forever... Really, set up a guest dorm, or something! At the very least, don't we have a videochat station somewhere? Wait, no, that's also unfeasible on account of their income level... I could pool money with Gratia and buy them a unit though, right? Even with my relatively frivolous recent spending, I still had a pretty sizable investment from Brewing Storm... Surely, handing that over would be enough? I'm not angry any more, I'm willing to negotiate! If I need to defeat a hydra to prove my worth, or reroute a river to clean some stables, I'm game, honest! I know I may not look it, but I had a pretty big hand in taking out a Manticore, so how hard could the Lion of Nemea be? Please, this is just so much more pleasant than the walking on eggshells act...

---

Stage 4

---

...Well, it's pretty terrible of me to be talking like that right after complaining about my sisters, isn't it? And let me guess, karmic retribution ensures that for having been such a hypocrite, despite the very real issues I was complaining about, this will only be a fleeting passage that doesn't even encompass a chapter in the storybook I call our friendship. Hell, of course it would. It would actually be a pretty just comeuppance for a guy like me if things played out that way, and being selfish as I am, I wouldn't even be able to argue I'm undeserving of a cruel bait-and-switch like it. I'm sorry, Gratia. I wanted to take advantage of your rare moment of joy. I wanted to force something that was obviously going to be fleeting, now all the moreso because of it. In fact, the fickle winds of fate may even directly destroy this happiness for you, solely to get back at me.

I'm sorry. I'll do it right from now on.

---

Stage 5

---

I guess I shouldn't deny it. I shouldn't be angry at it for not happening more often. I shouldn't try and bargain or swindle it into sticking around longer than it naturally will. And getting depressed over it... It's a pretty girl's smile. Who gets depressed over that? Gratia Mindaro's honestly happy, for once. Anyone with a right mind wouldn't be surprised— everybody's got something that warms them up on the inside and make them comfortable, content, and calm. I, of all people, should be able to accept it for what it is, and not really give a crap about anything more, right?

Of course I can. For the time you spend with us, Gladtia Mindaro, I'm sure we will truly cherish your presence. I hope you have fun cutting loose for a change, and, selfish though it may be, I hope this won't be the last I see of you, either.

Yeah, I'm a greedy, callous ass, but I'll be proudly greedy for my friends and their good spirits.

---

Black Scene

---

"Huh. Ponytail looks good on her." I said, blinking and finally allowing my eyes to stop trailing her and her mother.

It was about then that I remembered the elephant in the room.

Or fox, more accurately.

"Sorry! Sorry, I'm just not used to that style change, is all..." I sheepishly explained to Skye, before gesturing to the doorway. "Shall we go for real, then? No more distractions, promise."

Ignite Heart! A Magical Girl RP

@Crimmy@ChickenTeriyaki

Hoshi Nakajima

A dozen or two paces ahead, one of the fastest students of East Umitori High School that hadn't been gobbled up by their star-studded track team, ironically, had been standing stock-still.

Yamashita.

You'll need to find a safe spot for those... her wise fairy companion mused, having already recognized the sound of the alert notification.

There was an alert in Yamashita. When her smartphone had buzzed her, it'd taken a fair bit of limber handwork, holdsmanship, and proprioceptive dexterity to manage to get the screen to a visible position while also not dropping anything. Neither was an easy task on its own...

But the latter became twice as rough when she realized that Yamashita meant just a mere hop, skip, and jump from her own home.

Kyotaro!

Physically, she may not have done any dropping, but metaphorically, well... Every task was all but forgotten in the face of this new development, suffice to say. Hoshi was still something of a neophyte, sure, but she was nothing if not zealously devoted both to the cause and her cousin-turned-brother figure. So, when the sanctity of both came under threat...

Her leisurely walk turned into a brisk trot.

Soon a jog.

Sooner a run.

I'm not letting it get anywhere near him!

Sooner still, a full-on dash.

Tendou! she mentally barked. We're heading in!

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

@FlitterFaux@Plank Sinatra@Ayazi@Silvan Haven@Write@LokiLeo789@Crimmy

Lucas Schwarz

"Don't worry about it."

The words left my mouth before I had even realized, being so natural to me at this point. There wasn't too much of a reason to get worked up over her idiosyncrasies—not when I hung around Gratia Mindaro, Bianca Nuit, and my very own self on an extremely regular basis. Country bumpkins getting overwhelmed by the city wasn't any new concept either: I understood the feeling, being a mountain hick. Albeit one hailing from an unusually developed mountain range, that was...

In any case, being swept up by the raging torrent of people in a true-blue metropolis was understandable. Since she was walking around just fine, presumably she didn't have much in the way of injuries to be worrying about, despite it being the hospital she was returning to. That helped my case, because I've never been good at rushing things.

"Yeah, sure, just gimme one second:" I requested, before attempting to pry at least one of my sisters out of a certain militaristic gold stripe's hair.

"Ah, need any help with all the orders, Jer-kun? Leave it to me!"

"Oi, April." I cut in, "Let Jericho think for two seconds and listen real quick before you go:"

I helpfully gestured in Skye's direction. "I'll be showing her the way to the hospital. Once that's done with, I'll head right back here, so don't go running off somewhere or trying to chase after me saying I 'didn't let you know' like this morning. Got it?"

"Hmmm..." she frowned thoughtfully, before effortlessly shaking her wrist free of my grip. "Dawn! Gameplan!"

"Hai!"

They huddled, chattering amongst themselves in hushed tones so that I couldn't hear.

..........

What, was I literally a natural disaster these two had to plot around? An enemy sports team with moves to decipher instead of just the older brother that they needed to listen to?

Come on! I may not be living in Shiroyama anymore, but I'm still part of this family! Would it kill them to remember that?

And they have the gall to ask why I think our relationship's so bad.

"Alright, break!"

Oh, now that was just rubbing it in.

"Sure, go ahead! I hope you and Skye get there quick!" Dawn said primly, turning back towards the masked woman and I as April marched off in pursuit of helping the local Atlesian, regardless of whether or not he'd accepted her help. Well, that one was to be expected, honestly— these girls had a habit of just bowling over you and your concept of normality without a care in the world, just as they had with whatever plot they'd come up with just now.

I eyed the willowy striker's retreating, mostly yellow and black frame.

Ganbare, Jer-kun...

"Right, then I'll be back in a few, guys." I told the rest of the group, before rising and nodding to the masked girl as I made my way for the door, beckoning her after me.

"So— first things first. Which hospital was it?" I asked, holding open the door. "In a population center like Vale, there are plenty to choose from, so if you've got a name..."

Ignite Heart! A Magical Girl RP

Hoshi either today or tonight. Depends on how well I can schedule around running/sprinting and Voiceover class.